A discussion of the DJ creative process and contemporary DJ culture.

When I first started I had this dream that I would someday spin an Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1. Pete Tong would introduce me, lovingly mispronouncing my last name and I already knew what my last statement track would be ( Hybrid’s “If I Survive” for the curious – although I would pitch it slower a bit from the original BPM ). It was a serious dream of mine and at one point I really believed I was on my way to achieve it. Time has passed and I know that I won’t get there – unless I spend a good 5 or 6 more years completely dedicated to the art and have some productions under my belt. It’s not a terrible reality that I’ve faced, it’s just my window to actually make it happen closed a while ago. Life happens and you deviate. But still, it would be a capstone for me if I were ever to do it. So I started thinking, if I have that as my ultimate accomplishment. What is yours?

There’s a few things I think DJs want to accomplish or experience in their DJ lifetime. The bucket list is all the things you would want to do before you pass into the beyond. I’m not trying to be morbid I’m just trying to get you to think about what you want to accomplish as a DJ and what you want to leave behind as your legacy.

You need to think of DJing and your creativity as a body of work. So what body of work do you currently have. Take stock of your mixes, your live sets, your productions (finished or unfinished), your collaborations, even your flyer art. Look at it as a whole. What does it say about you as an artist? The purpose of doing this is so you can see where you are in relation to where you want to be.

Spend some time reflecting on what you do. Write down whatever comes to mind as things you want to accomplish as a DJ before you go. Give in to a little fantasizing but make sure you include tangible goals. Do you want to produce more, do you want to have a certain style figured out – things that you can actively work on now and look back on with pride. Is there a DJ you appreciate that you would want to talk to, write it down. Is there a way you want to collaborate that you’ve never done before – write that down. Do you want to have a show – write that down. Record label – put it on the list. Whatever it is don’t limit yourself to what’s possible and what’s not yet – just get it down. Now take a look at your bucket list.

I bet you have a lot of work to do.

Also, I want you to consider the culture as a whole. As a participant in DJ culture, you are also a contributor and shaper of it. For example, another dream of mine when I first started was that I had hoped some day a DJ would play Carnegie Hall. I don’t know why Carnegie Hall other than for me it is the epitome of classical and established musical performance. I believed that if a DJ spun Carnegie Hall we would finally be recognized as artists. So what do you want to see happen for us and what are you doing to make that happen? I am happy to report that a DJ has spun in Carnegie Hall, in collaboration with a symphony no less. Here is a link if you want to see the story. It’s very interesting and inspiring. DJ Radar w/the Red Bull Artsechro Symphony – Carnegie Hall

One thing I want you to realize is that DJing is a lifetime pursuit. You may not do all the things on your bucket list but hopefully you are inspired enough to get most of it done. The best way to feel like you are moving forward is to map the tangible goals and then the big dreams in some sort of order – small steps and hard work feed into bigger accomplishments. The point is to have a trajectory. If your big dream is to take the main stage – what do you need to do to get there? I also want you to feel ok with having “small” dreams too. I don’t want you to give in to the perception that being a superstar DJ is the epitome of success. For me, I keep chasing down the ultimate mix, the one that truly exemplifies me as a person and an artist. Of course, the reality is that I will never be satisfied but it’s fun thinking that there is a perfect mix in my head and I just need to bring it into the world.

Another important thing about this list is to see what you are doing now that might be holding you back. You may be in a circle of people that don’t understand you, or you may be giving up too much to your audience and losing your “voice”, you may be spending too much time on a project that is not satisfying you. You need to take serious stock of the things in your life, the gigs that aren’t relevant to you or are soul sucking, the genre you are spinning because it’s “hot” but you’re not feeling it, the time you are spending chasing down the latest top 10 ( See Getting to Know Your Tracks in an Accelerated Landscape ). What are you doing now that is not proportional towards working on the things on your list. This is also an exercise to understand what you are NOT doing. You know if you are not giving your full attention to something. So what can you do to commit? In future posts I will talk about some Trainwrecks to creativity but for now – all you have is time, so make the most of it.

Recap: Spend some time writing down what you want to accomplish before you kick it. Think about how you are going to get there. Don’t forget the culture or your community and what you are doing to change things. What’s holding you back and what’s moving you forward?